Success-Oriented Funding

The criminal justice system is full of financial incentives that intentionally or inadvertently help fuel mass incarceration. Government funding is often given to public and private entities without accurate accountability - federally, in states, and at the local level.

But, there is a solution. "Success-Oriented Funding" is simple: fund what works. The policy model would restructure criminal justice funding to ensure better outcomes, ones that reduce both crime and incarceration together. Success-Oriented Funding would extend what the government has already started to implement in education and healthcare. By setting clear goals for success, government can better align public policy goals with funding streams.

To move the criminal justice system forward, should we be employing the same tactics used at the height of the crime wave in the '80s? Or focus efforts—and dollars—on modern data-driven approaches and away from incarceration?

Considering their cost and wide allocation, grant programs have a significant effect on criminal justice and corrections policy nationwide. Congress and the DOJ should look at these grant programs as a valuable tool for reform.

Two decades ago, the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 – known as the “crime bill” – changed the landscape of criminal justice in the United States. The bill was responsible for a dramatic influx of federal funds that helped drive mass incarceration.

“The other problem with these grants is that there’s no real metric attached to them. The Brennan Center recently published an excellent overview of this problem, with some smart proposals for reform.”

This report lays out a recommendation for the President to take swift executive action to reform criminal justice grants and provide accountability to the flow of federal funds used by state and local law enforcement.

At a time of fierce debate between President Obama and Congress over the use of executive action, this policy proposal outlines 15 steps the administration can take to overcome a paralyzed government, strengthen democracy, secure justice, and further the rule of law.

"In 1988, when the programme was created, American cities faced soaring crime rates. Today the problem is that too many people are expensively locked up. A new report from the Brennan Centre for Justice ... suggests that the JAG programme may be partly to blame for this."

“In a recent report, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law calls this a "bet on success ... instead of using the typical model of privatization, in which private prisons generally bet on failure (i.e. the more prisoners, the better)."

A new report confirms that private prisons not only rely on faulty math to get states to agree to binding contracts, but they also fail to save states money even when their contract legally requires it.

The nation’s vast criminal justice system is filled with incentives that can steer or deter behavior, for good or for ill—however, instead of spurring innovative law enforcement policies, today’s fiscal incentives often result in a system that continues to run on autopilot.